Making a 35 foot bus out of a 40 foot MCI 9 or 102

[richardmc9]

Hello, a friend of mine wants to know if at all possible  to take five feet out of a forty foot MCI 9 making a 35ft bus ? I told him I would post the question  an I was sure that someone on the forum would know.  Thanks Richard

[lvmci]

Hi Richard, there is a MCI thats 35' and 102" wide, lvmci...

[Scott & Heather]

Anything is possible...but why? It would be pretty major work. Better off buying a 35' coach.


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[TomC]

MCI 3500 is Mex made by Dina.

[bobwoo]

I have had 1 5C 35 footer and 2 9- 40 footers. The extra 5 feet really makes a difference in layout and I didn't find any difference in driving the 40's. (my opinion), if I wasn't cheap I would of got a 45 footer 

[Tikvah]

A sawzall, some duct tape, a couple hose clamps and - walah!

I would think if you took the whole coach down to the skeleton, it would be doable.  Then, from the bare skeleton, you could build everything exactly as you want.  Might be a great time to remove the tag axle - the tag would be overkill on a 35'

[bevans6]

MC-5C is basically an MC-9 with no tag axle and one fewer bay.  You could shorten an MC-9, but it would be a lot of work.  MCI buses are monocoque, which in this case is a fully stressed skin over a steel welded tube frame.  The frame is not fully self-supporting, it gets much of it's strength from the aluminium skin riveted on.  You'd have to have the engineering and fabrication skills to join the two halves together properly.

[TomC]

Buy the exact bus that will serve you the best. I had to do many changes to my transit-ultimately should have bought a 102C3

[Tikvah]

If I were to build again, I would also do the 102c3 with the modern style engine.

Or, if I wanted to get to work with the welder, I'd build a truck... but that's another forum 

[Dave5Cs]

Brian mci 5C is a mci 8 without a tag and 35 foot

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[lostagain]

Yea, I will join Dave in the nit picking, but a 5C is closer to an 8 than a 9. Not by much though. By the late '70s, MCI had evolved the 5C and the 8 to near perfection for the times. Then came the 9, a little better yet. I drove them all. The 5C was, is, nice and tight. The 8 had too soft a suspension and leaned in the corners. And for its 40' length, a large turning radius. The 9 was more solid on the road, had more power with the 8V92TA, and an improved turning radius. The next thing was 102" wide, and a new series. 40 year old memories...

JC

[Oonrahnjay]

Buy the exact bus that will serve you the best. ...   

    Yep!!

[Tom Y]

Yes, Remove 5 feet. I wanted to remove 5 feet from my 5C. But decided against it because MCI did a nice job on the fuel tank. I removed 37 1/4 inches from the front area, added to the rear for the 6 cly Cummins. I did not cut the roof, left intact and slide to the rear. Slide roof back 1" at windshield also so not so flat at front. Then cut roof at rear cap. Left supports under bay area and slide together and some cut and weld.

[Tom Y]

I wanted a 30 foot bus but did not make it. Here is a pic going together.

[Oonrahnjay]

Yes, Remove 5 feet. I wanted to remove 5 feet from my 5C. But decided against it because MCI did a nice job on the fuel tank. I removed 37 1/4 inches from the front area, added to the rear for the 6 cly Cummins. I did not cut the roof, left intact and slide to the rear. Slide roof back 1" at windshield also so not so flat at front. Then cut roof at rear cap. Left supports under bay area and slide together and some cut and weld.

    Did you do a roof raise while you had it all apart?  That's a big job but it looks like you worked it out very well.  If I had my drothers, I'd have another 5' (although I already have almost 60 feet floor length).